Creeping Darkness
by daedalusproject
Summary: Everyone thinks that they know the basic aspects of the Rwby universe, but when the students reach Beacon Academy, the rest of the world is opened up to them. What they uncover and face will change their view of their world forever.
1. CreepingDarkness

Creeping Dark

A Rwby Tale

Life, it is the epitome of what can happen to a lifeless planet. From the smallest of shrubs to the most complex of organisms, all life is precious and vital. That is not to say that some life is not more precious than others. While it is certainly morally reprehensible to casually rate and classify life based on its importance, when it comes down to it, the reality is that you will pick the pet over the tree and the friend over the both of them.

While all of life posses some essence of a soul, the people that I accept into my academy have both a strong enough soul and the strength of will to compete and train to protect our world and city from the creatures of Grimm. Having reviewed your combat scores both in simulations and against your fellow students, we at have decided to extend a formal invitation to you to come join the next year of students at beacon academy.

Signed: Professor Ozpin

The flaming haired beauty stared at the rough piece of paper, slowly tuning out more and more of the world. She felt like she should crack a joke, but realized the seriousness of the of the subject of the transcribed on the piece of paper , and looked around and thought that it would be a waste, as she was in her room, very much alone, and very much tired. As she thought more, she also realized that she might be too dead to go to the prestigious academy if she failed her class because she didn't finish her paper. She turned her attention, or at least the part that want paying attention to the new episode of Achieve Men. She reviewed what she had written already and began mentally forming an excuse to tell to her teacher for the utter crap of an essay she was about to turn in. After a couple explanations about the state of global warming affecting the state of her room and then conversely the state of her mind, she thought of a more important question. Why is the word long shorter than the word short and why there were long words that she was forced to learn big words for a stupid vocab class while there were free words like Hong that had no meaning. She looked at the clock and realized that twenty minutes had gone by from the time that she had first opened the letter that signaled the next four years of her life as a complete bad-ass in training. She turned her attention once again to her paper and put into action the mantra that had propelled her when she encountered even the slightest resistance in her paper writing, Ctrl-C, ctrl-V that bitch. She opened her flamefox browser and searched for a paper that was decent but believable that she could have written it. She typed in her subject, scrolled until she felt she was deep enough, and clicked in the first link that caught her eye. She scanned the paper quickly, made sure that it fit her criteria, and finding that it was a good enough, she copied it into the essay application on her scroll. She glanced at the clock and realized that her sister was probably shopping for new music to put on her specialized modded scroll that she had hooked her sister up with. Deciding that she might be questioned in class on her paper, she decided that she should at least know the topic. And so, switching between concentrating on the paper, and wondering if people liked grapes, Yang settled down and started scanning.

How does one classify the complexity and importance of life? Researchers at the University of Vale devised a system now referred to as COAL (Classification of Aura and Order of Life). Pioneered by Mark Flynt, the system measured the output capabilities of an entities soul. While slightly erroneous due to the fact that the manifestation of a soul is not a passive ability that is a perpetual shield that can be indefinitely relied upon, it is accurate in the fact that the higher order of beings that posses souls can emit a protective aura that protects and heals in the case of an attack. Digression aside, the researchers did create a system that ranked the creatures in the world of remnant. Inevitably, because of our ego and eternal narcissism, they put humans at the top of the list with an output average of 20. Even though there was no credible evidence of a noticeably lower output from Faunus's, the study was conducted in the reprehensible era of severe and biased Faunus discrimination; they assigned an output rating of 18. After that the amount of output decreased dramatically, with the next closest rating being 11 assigned to a species of canines renowned for their small size and stubby legs. These dogs, for this specific trait are the most often chosen by hunters and huntresses to assist them on missions. However, going back to the etymology of the word aura; the soul was given the moniker of aura before its active ability was discovered and was better understood. Once powerful enough, the power of the soul manifests itself in more than just the passive shield of energy, and can give off a significantly more powerful, for lack of a better word, force. The way that this force is presented varies individually from person to person, or Faunus. This is because they way that it escapes, is like light through a colored glass, except the colored glass is the soul that is, after all of the experiences that it has, unique completely depending on the experience and they way that you react to it. After all of this, the metaphorical light that is created, is different, and as such gives different abilities to the person from whom the light emits from within. The official Output Average that a creature must have is at least 13, with things with lower Output not being able to break the Spiritual/Physical barrier. This powerful manifestation of the soul was unofficially labeled as semblance. The outward appearance or apparent form of something, this is the most powerful appearance of the soul that has ever been recorded, although the power and distinctive form that semblance takes varies wildly with the strength of will being the most consistent ratio of any physical characteristic to power. The power of the soul is, along with the power of dust, the sole reason that humanity was able to prevail against the forces of Grimm, who possess no soul and have never been recorded using dust in any form. To conclude, the reason that we are able to exist without being perpetually fearful of eternal extinction, is fifty percent the sheer power of will and the indomitable spirit of humans and Faunus.

The Burning Light

"It's not bad, but I don't think that I can pass for someone name the burning something or other" still focusing on the universal popularity and acceptance of grapes. She quickly changed the name to Yang Xia-Long and turned back to the horrible parodies of songs accompanied every episode of Achieve Men.

Left foot forward, a bit back, too far forward. Rapier forward, chin up, asses the enemy. Calculate active range for its broad sword strokes. Weiss Schnee wanted to win more than anything. This battle meant to her, the entrance into _the_ elite combat school of vale. It was the culmination of all the effort that she had invested into training not to mention the finances put up by her father. Given that she was one of the daughter of one of the richest, if not the richest person in vale, she had no practical reason for a job, and so all of her time not spent on friends or shopping, was poured into combat training in an all out effort to become one of the best huntresses of her age. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, she had no real purpose in life until she had to take over as the head. That all changed when she found her purpose in life as someone who has more goals in life than quarterly profits and shareholder meetings. Seven years ago she had sets her sights on achieving the rare status of huntress, and with all the determination of a Schnee she had pursued it relentlessly.

"You dunce, pay attention to the match, not your stupid musings and reflections" Weiss turned her attention back to the Iron behemoth that stood before her. She recognized the design, it being one produced by her father's company. Part powered by circuitry, part supplemented by a transferred aura, it was a gargantuan thing, requiring a massive amount of damage to render it destroyed and defeated, and thus earning her the victory and spot into Beacon Academy.

Taking place in a large hall, an almost ironically small ding signaled the beginning of the monumental match. The Robot almost immediately attacked, stepping forward and opening with an overhead strike, causing her to quickly flip back to avoid it. Recovering immediately, she launched off her back foot, launching past it, striking it as she passed. It turned around, launching another overhead. She launched a high flying leap, spawning a glyph, and using it as a base to launch a flurry of small, quick strikes into its upper torso. She however overstayed it her welcome, and she had to block a large sideways blow, not sustaining a significant amount of damage, but being knocked back and jarred. By the time she had regained her bearing, the Robot was halfway there, leaping though the air, and missing as she rolled out of the way in the nick of time. Weiss jumped up and was struck by a crushing blow that she managed to deflect just in time. Glancing up she realized that she had space between her and the robot. Using a white glyph and base for launch, she leapt at it and launched a combination of strikes going from the robot head to down to its knees. Landing, Weiss quickly pivoted, and struck three times at its knee level before leaping over its head, striking its neck once. As she was floating down, Weiss speedily summoned a glyph to jump over a sideswipe but suffered a massive hit when the robot punched her, knocking her back and drawing blood.

"Don't give up, keep fighting, this will decide the rest of your life." Weiss grimaced and lifted her fingers to her left forehead as she felt some liquid run down. Her two fingers came down red and she surmised that she had a non-significant wound on her head. "Give it your all, three minutes for the rest of your life". Weiss clenched her teeth and set her feet on the cold, metallic floor. She reached down deep into her inner will prepared herself to finish the fight. Setting feet and shoulders to the proper stance, she reached to the base of her rapier and twisted the Dust compartment to the red holding container and released it into the hardened silver blade of her weapon. Waiting for the robot to come at her, she waited until it had reached her and then she blocked it with her Dust enhanced rapier. The force of the dust block actually knocked the robot back twenty feet. Seizing the advantage, she rapidly switched to the white holding container using it with her semblance to create a trail of ice, but more importantly trapping the Robot in place. Weiss began sprinting at it, leaping over the blade that was swiped at her. She was able to land on it, riding it until the arm that wielded it swept across the Robots body, exposing the joint between the shoulder and the arm. She left the blade, lunging at the vulnerability. The shock of the blow knocked the Blade out of the gargantuan paws of Hands.

Glancing at its hands as if to confirm that the massive broadsword had truly been knocked out its grip, the Robot then assessed the tactical situation that it had found itself in. The sword had landed next to the pale, purely white girl and was unreachable. The Robot then settled on the solution of transferring to hand-to-hand combat. He rushed at her, transferring a large punch at here, missing and smashing a large hole in the ground. The small white thing darted past him and anchored him to the ground with a glyph before launching him up. As he reached the apex of the toss, five small glyphs were shot at him, anchoring him in mid air.

Jumping straight up into the air, stopping once she had reached a spot slightly higher than the crown of the Robots head, Weiss smiled as she realized that barring a horrible mess up, she had the victory in hand. Summoning the (hopefully) final glyph that she would need, she crouched on the glyph and selected the pure setting on her rapier. The pure setting was white, but it was not the color but a combination of all the different dust combinations. It is the most powerful setting, but it empties the weapon of all the dust. Flying at the Robot, Weiss realized that this moment signaled the beginning of the rest of her life. With two powerful strikes, she disintegrated the automaton and stood while metal dust (the regular kind) rained down upon her. And so, under the light of the shattered moon, Weiss was declared the winner and began her path to Beacon.


	2. Interesting Beginning

Interesting Beginning

"Ruby….Ruby…Come on, get off that scroll, we are going to miss our transport vessel." Yang shouted as her red-haired sister strolled down the gangplank. Reading her scroll, and burdened by the scythe on her back, Ruby did not make very fast progress down the wide and seemingly endless piece of silvery metal that connected the docking tower to floating ship.

"Yeah, yeah, sis, chill out. It's not like they are going to leave us." Ruby answered nonchalantly, still focused on her scroll.

"You said that last time we traveled and the ship took off and we started to lose ground because the walkway retracted!" Yang yelled back, thinking back to the time that they tried to go visit the symposium on Grimm and their abilities.

"Cut me some slack, it was pretty easy to outrun back to solid ground." Remembering the trail of roses that had materialized and floated down from the air when she had looked up, squeaked, and hightailed it back when she saw more and more air, Ruby smiled and quickly frowned when she remembered the yelling and subsequent and brief scuffle when her sister also reached the Tower.

"Says the one who ability is freaking speed, those of us who are speed challenged get a bit more of a scare when we can't just simply literally run like the wind" Yang grimaced when remembered she felt the pain in her ankle that she sprained because of the quick pivot caused by the rapidly approaching empty space. The memory of the pain however quickly vanished, and was replaced by the satisfactory memory of making her sister eat the grass that she had trampled on her way out of the Tower.

At this point, the Scroll that was previously in use was now put away as the petite girl focused her attention on the argument. She was standing face to face or rather neck to face as Ruby was significantly dwarfed by her sister.

"Yeah well, it was your fault that we were late in the first place, our driver wasn't even that cute. And, and, after all that flirting in which I was completely unable to get through that thick head, you didn't even get his number" The girl with the scythe on her back accused, now pointing a finger and squinting her eyes at the blonde mass in front of her.

"Ruby, Ruby, I was playing the long game. The world of boys takes finesse, I don't except you to understand. Plus we still had plenty of time, but NOOOO, my sister had to stand at the glass window in the terminal and ogle at all the weapon attachments." Yang squared her hips and stared down. She opened her mouth to interrupt her sister with the infamous older sibling card, but both she and her sister stopped and turned as a light and lithe voice came in between the important discussion.

"I'm sure that this is a, matter of severe importance and will need a resolution a later date. I would be happy to conduct the trial, but I would rather do it on the ship, and not back inside because we all missed our ride. My name is Anna by the way." The face that matched the voice was one that terminated just under Yang's forehead. The face itself was pretty, with small dimples that accompanied the small smile that faced the two sisters. Her light blue eyes flicked from arguer to arguee and most interesting they also flicked to purple periodically and back again. Anna's hair ran over and hid the weapon slung on her back. Originating as a light brown at the roots and ran as a light gradient terminating as a dirty aqua color and was dappled with ribbons of green that were shorter than the rest. She had a light smile on, and her eyes met Yang's head on. She was slighter, smaller than Yang, but not by much. The few words that she spoke had a light feminine tone.

"And what makes you think that we will miss the transport ship?" Yang questioned, still processing the other females audacity.

"Well, the large, glowing sign saying thirty seconds to launch in big, red letters was a pretty big giveaway." Anna answered back, while simultaneously pointing at the twenty foot screen on the side of the ship that was counting down.

Two seconds later a voice could be heard over the roars of the ships engines. "Good…job…Ruby… I'll always leave it to you" Yang's breathless voice was barely heard over the loud, metallic gonging caused by three pairs of feet running down the causeway.

The couch cushions compressed as the weight of a triplet of girls collapsed on them. Breathing heavily, Yang raised her eyebrows and smiled. Though she would never admit it, even with all her friends, trips were never dull when her sister was involved. Ruby Rose was her sister even though they had differing last names. Even though she was small, her sister had the singular passion and love of combat and weapons that gave her the skills to impress the same man that had just accepted Yang to Beacon.

"Welp, for a second there, I thought it could have been worse. Instead of uncompromising, hard steel that I landed on I guess we could have landed on some Tigers or something." Glaring at her sister, Yang spoke in an accusatory tone.

"You are just upset because the cute attendant saw you with a hair out of place." Smirking, Ruby rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the new person she just met.

"Are your lives in a state of perpetual argument?" Anna asked the red head smiling in amusement.

"Only when Yang refuses to accept that I'm right." Smiling, Ruby playfully punched her sister on the shoulder, and was almost knocked off her feet as that punch was returned."

Well… oh wow." Anna stopped short as the airship crested the mountain with its powerful refractor engines. "It really makes a difference seeing it for the first time in real life." All three girls rose to their feet, accompanied by every teenager on the ship with a clear view of the large, clear windows. And like a small city, Beacon emerged.

A tree intense campus, with a ring of towers, placed at precise intervals. Small black openings marked the positions of windows. Each connected by a walkway, they formed the main bulk of the campuses academic classrooms and dorms. But even though they were each magnificent in their own right, they were completely dwarfed by the main, inner building. A massive structure, inspired by the castles of old, with towering ramparts, and graceful architecture, it was a centerpiece in a place that was beautiful, with gardens and fountains. The serenity and beauty of it all did well to hide the nature of what it went down in its halls. Inside the main building lay some of the most advanced combat simulation rooms in all of Vale and it had an extensive repertoire of knowledge on Grimm and some low level Grimm themselves.

Sighing, Yang was the first to speak. "All this beauty and I still have to share it with you." Yang rolled her eyes and awaited the self-assured response from her sibling. "How did I end up here?" Came the unexpected reply. "I was just shopping for some new beats, and one fight later I am with my sister, some chick, and a couple hundred other kids that are two years older than me, on a metal box that defies the laws of freaking nature, flying towards a group of pretty buildings that help us protect the world." Ruby began whispering, her voice gradually climbing higher and higher. She then glanced down and turned the one that towered over her. "Yaaaang, I don't think that my knees are doing the supporting thing that they usually do."

"It escapes me how you fight off people robbing you, and not to mention stare down an airship, but become weak at the thought of sustained social interaction." Yang rolled her eyes again and guided the quaking 15 year old back to the couch. After this task had been accomplished, she turned her attention back to the interestingly blue-tinged girl.

"You don't seem to have a weapon" Examining the girl more thoroughly to confirm her statement. "Oh, I do, but it is usually covered by my hair." Anna reached up and moved her hair to reveal a metallic object slung on her back. Unslinging it, the aqua colored girl laid it in her hands, lying face up, so the blonde could see exactly what it was. In her Caucasian hands was an ornately decorated light blue handle with white bears walking up the handle all the while being flanked by humans. At the top was a symmetrical bulbous protrusion. Painted on top in a beautifully stylistic way was a Beowulf, reared and ready to fight. "It's supposed to symbolize our connection with nature in our fight against the Grimm, I always thought I was a bit silly, but it's been in my family for generations." Anna gave a tight lipped smile as the powerful girl closely examining the decoration on the top of the handle. "No, No, it's amazing, but what exactly is it, a club or something?"

"A melee weapon to be sure, but step back and let me show you what it is precisely." As soon as Yang stepped back, Anna pressed on of a set of ornate buttons at the base that Yang saw for the first time. With sharp metallic sound the bulbous end slid out into symmetrical, triangular axe blades. The two halves me that the top in a single point, and the blades were rounded slightly before making a sudden, almost 90 degree turn back into the handle. As she turned the weapon slightly, the sun gleamed off of it. If one were to observe it closely, they would see that small rivers of silver dust were contained just below the metal. Yang did look closely and inquired to the purpose of the dust. "Oh, the dust strengthens the metal and powers its gun mode. " Anna replied. Yang nodded to show that she understood. As she was thinking about it, she suddenly screwed her face and launched her second question. "Wait, gun mode?"

Anna smiled and nodded. "Not exactly accurate, more of a crossbow mode really, but it's powered by gunpowder and dust so I try not to get into semantics." The shorter girl pressed another button on the bottom of the handle. Splitting open, the double edged axe split open, leaving two feet left of solid handle and revealed a long, thin, bolt. "The handle houses the compressor technology that allowed thirty feet of high strength tensile tribithium metal wire." When fired the bolt could be used as a grappling hook, or could be fitted with a range of attachments ranging from explosive, dust tipped warheads to one that released a electricity dampening material. Yang raised her eyebrows as listened to the explanation. Almost immediately though, she asked her third question in as many minutes.

"What's tribithium metal?"

"Remember the giant metal centurions that beacon uses as combat entrance tests?

"Oh, wow, that some seriously strong metal in your blade."

"Yeah, the blade is made of that too, so since it's infused with dust, the edges don't dull and are pretty much unbreakable."

The serious weapon appreciation session was cut short by an excited shriek from a familiar source. "Ooh, pretty, can I hold it?" The small red-head jumped up and down, and then rushed over, her movements amplified by her semblance. Before Anna could respond, she found herself empty-handed. Chuckling softly she replied, "It's not as cool as the scythe on your back." Ruby stopped, looked up and questioned, "How do you know it's a scythe?"

Anna blushed and looked down, "I saw your fight on an internet video." Ruby answered amazed, "I'm on the internet?" Anna nodded, "Remind me to show you the video once we get settled in." Shrugging her shoulders, Ruby went back to her examination of the apparently fascinating weapon in her hands. Yang in turn turned to Anna and explained, "My sister is a bit of an enthusiast when it comes to new weapons." Anna nodded, understanding, "I can completely relate, I spent several hours viewing the video of your sister frame by frame to better understand what was on her back."

"Attention… Attention… This transport will be landing at beacon shortly. Please gather your items and be ready to disembark. Now please turn your attention to the screens for an announcement from Ms. Goodwitch.

A serious looking woman pooped up on the screen. Ruby jumped, "Hey that's the strict lady that I talked to before I talked to headmaster Ozpin." Yang started to respond but both siblings were shushed by Anna as the stern lady opened her mouth to speak.

"Welcome to Beacon, I will not keep you long as you will be landing soon. You are all here because you have been tested and selected to be the elite wall between the forces of Grimm and Humanity. Listen to your teachers, train and study hard. Remember you have to be the best. Report to orientation four hours after you get off, further instructions will be given there."

Yang turned to Ruby to finish her question. "Did it seem like she didn't like you, because I don't want to be associated with you if the second in command is gunning after you." Ruby shrugged and replied, "I don't know, she complimented me, then started yelling at me." Ruby then followed up with "When do think we should go." Yang replied pointedly "I'm just waiting for Anna to break in and interrupt us with how we are doing something irresponsible, or are missing important information." Being glared at by Yang, Anna took a sudden interest in the carpet. "I hate to be that person, but we are the only passengers left on the ship." Sighing heavily, Yang answered with a smile, "If I ever have an appointment I'll be sure to tell you."

Once they disembarked the ship, they put their personal effects into temporary lockers. After the items were stowed, all three split up. Ruby had an explosive interaction with the explosive personality of a certain heiress. Travelling with her friends, Yang succeeded in getting the numbers of several boys that she thought had potential. Showing a sense of practicality, Anna went down to the on-site forge and enquired on the how and when of acquiring dust for her weapon.

After a time, the trio reconvened in the main foyer of the Grand Hall. The elegant center piece of Beacon, It had sixteen pillars, each supporting a holographic screen with its neighbor to the left. This made them ideal as a main foyer for assignments, notifications, and announcements. In the center of the hall, near the back was a main stage. Armed with only a single microphone and a large screen, it was where Ozpin was set to make his announcement.

In the three minutes that the girls had to themselves, an argument broke out between Yang and Ruby on one side and Weiss on the other. Their argument was cut short as Ozpin tapped the mike, cleared his throat with a small cough and began his speech.

"I'll be brief. You are all here because you are the best that Vale has to offer. You are still kids, but if you train hard, and study well, you may yet become a hunter. You lack direction, but with time you will be achieving your true purpose. You will stay the night in temporary dormitories and tomorrow you will undergo your combat evaluation, where you will be put into your respective teams of four. Good luck."

Yang turned to Ruby and said "Well tomorrow is out bug day, you ready sis?" Ruby gave a small, nervous smile and answered, "No more talking, I'll let my baby do the talking." Yang sighed, "We really need to help you with this whole talking to people stuff." They began following the mass of people, each internally steeling themselves for the next step in their journey.

Note this is the penultimate chapter in where I set up the characters and get a feel for the type and method of story I will write. I have a couple of really cool ideas for the arcs that this one will take. Leave a review, I would be grateful for any insight into what I can do better, or anything I do correct.


	3. Important Meeting

Important Meeting

The Schnee Dust Company was not limited to just the mining, excavation, and implementation of Dust. Like most massive companies, they had a wide range of products and services. One of these products was designated as the MB-22 Autonomous Locker. While its ancestor was simple in concept- a simple storing mechanism – it has now been evolved into quite, but brilliant technology. In the bottom is a FV-56 compressor that housed fuel and circuits for its primary thruster. The reason for a thruster on an overcomplicated big metal box is a bit silly in concept, but useful in certain situations. If you are in the radius of effect, you could summon it to you. A onetime flight, it could deliver, at most, five hundred pounds of stuff smaller than two feet by two feet by five and a half feet. The obvious flaw in this design; you had to take everything out, or come back because it was really, really immovable once it landed. Nevertheless, this was a simple miracle of modern technology that took twenty million liens to develop and an additional three hundred lien and five hours of labor per locker. All these resources and effort put into this advanced piece of hardware, and still a tall, gangly kid was wandering, searching for it, completely lost (both him and the locker).

"I swear, I put all my stuff in this section last night, there is no way that I messed it up… is there? The tall kid sighed and tilted his scroll and the map on it, as if it would magically give him an epiphany and allow him to find his weapons and armor. The pair of footsteps beside him chuckled and replied, "Of course there is, more than a slight chance actually, because you are and idiot and you don't pay attention" The boy that was next to him contrasted his taller counterpart almost perfectly. While the tall one was tall had thin shoulders and dirty blonde hair that originated high his forehead and converged in a long pony-tail that ended right below the shoulder blades. The other one was slightly shorter, with wider shoulders and bigger muscles. His hair was certainly wilder, with jet black tufts that hung around in a messed up fashion, as if he had just gotten out of bed and spent five seconds trying to flatten it out before giving up on it. On the shorter guys face was a pair of specs that went from a black reflective surface to a clear surface, revealing his eyes.

The tall guy's eyes were red in the right eye and green in the left eye. Inversely the shorter guy's were green on the right and red on the left. This showed, beyond a doubt, that the two were connected in some way. They were obviously not twins due to their appearance, but as some would tell you, you don't have to be blood to be brothers.

"And to further prove that you don't give a crap about what other people say, you don't know that you can remote activate the locator beacon in your locker; something that was repeatedly reiterated during our orientation." The shorter boy spoke in an accusatory tone, and crossed his arms.

"Oh, I completely know about that."

"Then activate it."

"Ok… I'll just press these buttons…and the stuff will happen…and…whaaat is going on…why it is blinking…what does "thruster mode activated" mean… Raalek, I hate you and I am usually smarter than you, but stop this because I think I just sent it to bomb Tukson's shop!"

Raalek took the Scroll out of the tall, panicky boys' hands and played around with it. "Alright, done… now it's bombing your house instead of the shop." "What! You are worthless." Raalek rolled his eyes, "Gale, chill, is your house-which is halfway across the world and right next to mine –within fifty miles?

"No."

"You. Complete. Idiot. I don't know why I keep you around."

The scrolled beeped once and let out a pulsing red light. Reading the instructions on the screen, the boys tried to find Hale's missing locker. The two were quibbling so much that they didn't realize that two girls were following them. Almost ironically, Ruby and Yang were so amused and encapsulated by the discussion that they didn't notice a blonde boy with dark-red haired Spartan in tow. Now the group of four waited with baited breath to see the resolution of the dilemma.

"Hey, Jaune, Pyrrha, how are you guys doing?" Ruby turned around, with a grin still on her face. Jaune was the first to respond, "I thought I was having a bad morning, but this Gale dude, at least Pyrrha helped me out. That is the only reason I might let her join my team." Pyrrha chuckled lightly, "I don't think that we have much control over the teams that we are placed in, but I wouldn't mind being on your team."

A loud and victorious "Ah ha!" brought the attention back the two boys who had apparently just found their locker. "What's all the commotion over here?" From the doorframe came the sleepy voice of a blue-tinged girl. She looked around and assessed the situation. Homing in on Gale, she spoke, "You lost your locker didn't you? You were more interested in the banners in the hall than what we were being shown about Beacon." Gale stared at his feet and nodded. Continuing, "Well, if we are on the same team, then we will have to do something about that. Now get your stuff and get ready, we are leaving soon," Anna strode over to her locker and grabbed the stuff that she had prepared last night, quickly pivoted, and started her journey to the hanger.

Gale and Raalek turned and looked at each other. The first to speak, Raalek said what was on every one's mind, "Well she isn't timid about saying what's on her mind." Gale swallowed and began speaking as he began grabbing the stuff that he would need for that day. "She kind of scares me."

"Gale."

"Yes."

"Everything scares you."

The two settled into a silence as they evaluated each piece of equipment in their locker.

Taking advantage of the silence, Pyrrha turned to the congregation behind her and questioned, "Should we tell them that they are about to be late, or do we just leave them be?" She got mixed pieces of advice.

"Less competition"

"Don't be mean, we should tell them."

"We are about to be late?"

"Well you guys are a lot of help." Pyrrha made up her mind and walked over. "I hate to bother you boys, but you've got about thirty seconds before you can't make it." Once the two processed what the girl had said, Raalek pronounced, "Oh crap, good job Gale, leave it to you to make us late again."

Yang turned to Ruby, "This whole being late thing seems to be a recurring theme around us." As they stood and watched the multi-colored eyed boys scrambled to rapidly prepare, Jaune came to an epiphany. "Wait… if they are in danger of missing the ship, and we are in the same room, then by that logic, aren't we in the same metaphorical boat?" Yang rebuffed him, "Don't be stupid… oh wait… you have a point." At this point all six were ready and standing around in a defaced circle. In exactly two seconds the weight of the expressed thoughts hit them. Like a gunshot, the silence was broken and they all exploded into movement in a mad rush for the door.

As it turns out, a quarter-mile sprint is not much of an obstacle for hyper-fit warriors. Ruby arrived first and bounced in with boundless enthusiasm, followed by Pyrrha a couple of seconds later. Anna was seated in a harness next to an Asian dude, a girl with short, pink hair, a stern girl with a white combat skirt, and was seated next to a boy in a drab olive colored chain mail vest that lied flat against his chest.

The ruckus caused by Ruby's entrance caused Anna to turn her head. She smiled, "I'm glad that you made it." Ruby replied in an enthusiastic voice, "I always liked a good job in the morning, plus running is kinda my thing you know" As the two girls began stowing away their gear, the rest of the group arrived in a rather loud and tumultuous fashion.

Jaune, being the first to arrive and in a rush to not miss the ship, overlooked the six inch jump that you had to make to enter the ship and promptly tripped and fell in the middle of the entrance. Following him was Gale, making the jump but in the middle trying to avoid a sprawled out Jaune, he caught his foot on the edge somersaulted onto Jaune's back, now making the pile two bodies high. Having more time and seeing the situation, Raalek stopped on his heels with a squeak. Yang, tailgating him, did not stop and her massive frame hit Raalek's considerably smaller body like a steam train and knocked them both on top of the two already sprawled out bodies in the threshold.

From the bottom of the pile floated up a voice, "Ohhh, I think that you ruptured my spleen." On the top a she was disengaging herself from a dizzy Raalek, Yang said, "Is your spleen in your foot or something like that?" The voice answered back, "I don't even know what a spleen is but I know that it's in your torso somewhere. Would anybody happen to know what a spleen is by chance?" Raalek answered as he was straightening his clothes, "I think it does something with your blood cells or something like that." Reaching down, he began to help Gale off of a blonde mass. Now with a much clearer sound Jaune finished with, "Well are blood cells really that important?" He rose to his knees and cracked his back before rising to his full height. ."

A loud voice spoke in a stern female voice. "Last Call, Please take your seats before takeoff, especially the idiots who just arrived. And try not to rupture any more major organs in the six steps to your seats."

Raalek took a seat beside Anna. "I would like to clarify that none of that was my fault." Anna shook her head and enounced, "If we make it back with all of us not in critical condition, I would be completely shocked." The others all strapped in and the ship took off with loud roar as they began hurtling towards the most difficult test that they had ever faced.

The cliff that the initiates stood on terminated and dropped a sheer vertical one hundred and seventy five feet, in a smooth drop, only interrupted by small groups of rocks that formed its jagged and dangerous outcroppings. "Yeah… So if I could not be hurtled off of this cliff that would be great." Gale swallowed and backed away from the cliff. Raalek cheerfully smacked his friend in the back, "Well look at it this way, if you somehow die a horrible death, no one will care enough to find your body and I will never have a chance to laugh at you." Jaune jerked his head up from his Scroll in a worried fashion. As he took a second to process what the meaning of the conversation that had just taken place, Jaune put away his Scroll and approached the two boys. "Wait…I thought that this was just a place to survey the forest, we don't actually get launched off this cliff…Right? Behind him came a laugh that the others kept within them. Anna came up and clapped him on the shoulder, "Sure Jaune, just come stand on this square platform and plan your strategy." Jaune complied and walked over to the aforementioned metallic square. As the others joined him Jaune looked about in confusion. "Why are we all standing here, and why is this thing under me squeaking and depressing." Ruby chimed in this time. "Don't worry about it; just be prepared to land without dying or breaking any bones." With even more expression in his eyebrows, more worried and worried with each progressive second, Jaune began babbling with panic in his voice. "Landing…You mean from an airship right…What would make me break my bones…are we rappelling…would somebody answer me?

A soft but authoritative voice interrupted Jaune's worried musings. The grey-haired headmaster began to speak. "Welcome to the test that will determine the rest of your time here at Beacon. You will enter the forest of Forever Fall from above. Your goal is to retrieve an artifact from the temple in the forest and return to safety. You are to tell no one what artifact you pick. We will monitor your performance and combat style. That being said, your teammates will be determined by you. Undoubtedly you have heard many rumors and speculations as to the formation of teams. The first person that you make eye contact with will serve as your teammate, absolutely no exceptions. While you will have two other teammates that will be determined based on what artifact you and your teammate pick, you will have a deeper connection with the one that you meet first. You will have all the same classes as them with the exception of the ones with the team leader. . The team leader will have an additional class that is only open to them. You will be expected to be able to perform as a dual combat pairing with them, with two pairings in each team. Are there any questions?"

Jaune raised his hands and his tangent that he had started before Ozpin's speech.

"Will we be taking an airship off of this very dangerous rock face?"

"No, your entry point will originate on this cliff.

"Will we get a jetpack or parachute to make it safer?"

"No, you will land on your own merit."

Boing! The sound ushered the first launch that happened at the other end of the line.

"Is there any other way that we can take?"

"No, this is your singular option."

Five more springs activated, hurling their occupants into the air toward the menacing forest, but more importantly making Jaune the next one to be launched.

"Well this is going to go greeeeaaaaaaat." Jaune's voice tailed off as he rapidly flew away from the rock face.

A lonely bug skittered along the leafy, muddy brown ground. Its purpose like all of its siblings was to simply survive. This goal was inevitably failed by everyone, but this bug died a lot faster than most of the others. In a fraction of a second, the simple bug was gone. It had compressed to a size much smaller than its original size due to the weight, and velocity of a solitary Gale landing on it.

"This is the second time that I have landed on the ground painfully." He rose to his knees with a small sigh and surveyed the sky. A small red comet flew over him. Noting the position that his friend would land in he turned his attention to his weapon. In his hands was a long green staff. In the middle of the staff was a grip specially made for left-handed use. Green ivy vines snaked from end to end, each side perfectly symmetrical. Placing it in his left hand he flicked his wrist outward causing the staff to expand and form a bow. On the right hand side a small, transparent HUD slid out. Reaching back into his quiver he felt around before settling on an arrow. Slotting it onto the string and pulling it back, his eyes flicked over to the readout on the HUD.

Arrow: Electricity depositor arrowhead. Deposits 600 milliamps, lethal to humans and severely injures Grimm

Range: 240 yards

The statistics disappeared, replaced by virtual red line that predicted where the arrow would travel. He moved back the drawstring, and saw that the line changed accordingly. Nodding his head in satisfaction, Gale slotted the arrow back in its home. With another flick of his wrist, he turned it back into its staff mode. For the final test, Gale slid his thumb up, flicking a recessed lever. With a quite metallic sound, straight edged blades, six inches long slid out of each end. Twirling the staff around a bit, he made sure that it remained properly balanced. Once he had confirmed that it remained unaltered, he hurled it at a tree ten feet away, making it sink into the trunk seven inches. Striding over, he yanked it out, transformed the staff back into its vanilla mode, and slung it on his back parallel to the quiver. "Ah Auvengr, you never fail me."

"Are you in love with that bow or something?" a voice interrupted the moment. Walking up the hill toward his friend Gale, came the red-armored boy with a smirk on his face. On his forearms his weapon, Ginarr-a weapon that was strapped to his arm with blades that protruded and ran along his forearm- pulsated with a slightly yellow glow. "Raalek you never remember to load our weapon." He pointed to the sharply edged bracers. "Well I had to find you before some rabbit scared you and made you pass out." Raalek rolled his eyes while slotting the astoundingly large bullets into openings near the elbows. As he slotted the final bullet into the chamber that had a twenty round capacity, a rustle at the bottom of the hill caused both heads to turn.

The two boys saw a larger than normal Beowulf stride into full view, knocking a stray tree branch out of the way. "I hope it doesn't scare you." Raalek tensed his knees, preparing to leap at it. "I'm pretty sure that my fear sense has already been numbed, and before you leap put all heroically and stuff, let me at least let me weaken it a bit for you." Gale already had his bow out with an electricity arrow notched. Taking a second to line up the shot in his HUD, he fired and lowered his bow to admire his shot. The arrow flew true, striking three inches below the armpit sticking in the ribcage and letting loose a painfully large amount of electricity into the beast. As soon as the arrow had found its mark, Raalek leaped in the air, and flew at the Beowulf. Just before he slashed it, he activated his semblance, super cooling his specially forged blade which made to withstand the extreme temperatures that it regularly reached, to the point that it burned like a cold fire. The first blade sliced the soft area between the spine and shoulder blade with the right side opening a wound in the stomach. Raalek's momentum caused him to take two steps past, but quickly pivoted and fired two massive bullets that exited from a muzzle near his wrists, each hitting the shoulder joints knocking the Beowulf into a flip onto his back and rendering its arms useless. Now out of immediate danger, Raalek calmly strode over and yanked the arrow out of the Beowulf's to return to his now teammate. Before he went back to his friend, he threw the arrow down one last time making it lodge in the two-legged evils eye. He retrieved it once again and turned back up the hill back to his friend.

After a thirty minutes walking while insulting each other with each step that they took. They stumbled into a circular arena with ruined stone pillars that had ropes of ivy climbing on every face possible. On three pedestals stood an ornate a stylized bow, shield, and axe. Five other pedestals stood empty, already emptied by the other students. Walking over, Raalek mulled over the metaphorical meaning of each artifact. "Ohhh, I wish that I had a bow that looked like that." A tall green mass rushed past him and dived at the bow artifact before Raalek could stop him. Standing triumphantly, Gale beamed at Raalek while holding the stone bow above his head. "You look like an idiot; I just hope you know that." Raalek shook his head before turning and exiting the stone circle. Putting the fragile stone bow into the side pocket of his quiver rather roughly and he began chasing after his teammate. "You're just jealous that I picked the artifact and not you."

"Wow, you are alive and not seriously injured, I am amazed, but then again the day is young." A female voice approached the sulking boy from the left. Turning, Raalek saw Anna coming out of the woods with the boy with the olive vest by her side. "I guess that hoping for a casualty was too much to ask for." Raalek spoke in a grumpy tone before turning to face the cliff in the distance. Anna frowned, "What's got your mood all soured? Oh, meet Oliver, my new teammate." Oliver stepped forward and introduced himself. Gale quizzically spoke, "What's your weapon?" Oliver raised his hands. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that they were gloved. "The gloves can harden so I don't break my hand when I hit stuff, and they carry a mild electrical charge that makes getting touched by me extremely disorientating. Combined with my semblance, which is an energy steal that is based on contact, all I need is contained in my hands. I also was gifted this Chain mail vest that protects me against most explosions, small arms fire and hand to hand combat."

A loud squeal interrupted the important meeting. Out of the forest came a came a massive Grimm hog. Its tusks were three feet long. From the mouth came sound and an endless river of spittle. A ridge of bone covered the black hogs face and ran down the middle of its back, protecting its spine. Not hesitating or slowing down in the slightest, the hog kept on running at full speed at the group of four initiates. "I failed the species of Grimm course, but I don't think that getting hit by that would be beneficial to your health." Raalek pivoted to his right and grabbed gale who was still staring at the charging hog.

The four split into their groups of two, and dived to each side. "Oliver do you think that you could mount it?" Anna shouted as they rose to their knees and transitioned immediately into a sprint." Oliver thought about it, and then answered, "I could try it." He sped up and leapt onto a low hanging branch and waited for the hog to pass underneath. As the hog sped underneath the branch in full chase, Oliver jumped onto its back and held on for dear life. Once he regained his senses, Oliver activated his semblance that began slowly sapping the hogs strength and energy. Anna turned to Gale and Raalek. "We are going to target the hog's front left leg. Gale fire the arrow into the joint with a whatever arrow you think would be most effective. Raalek, empty your guns into the same spot. After that, start targeting the area with your blades. Once we weaken that area enough, we need to topple it because the topside of it is armored and we need to hit its underbelly."

Oliver's eyes widened as he saw his female teammate pivot along with the other two. As Gale drew back his bowstring, the HUD briefly displayed the class of the arrow that he selected. Arrow: Barbed hooks. He fired and the skin on the hog formed small tents as the barbs deployed under its skin. The hog kept on running with the barbs ripping and tearing the muscle there. A second later, the immediate area was utterly devastated as huge bullets fired from Raalek's bracers pulverized the skin around the joint. With a gaping hole in the place of a joint and muscle, the hog finally slowed down due to the constant energy drain on its back and the massive trauma it had suffered.

Closing the distance, Raalek stepped in and began slashing around the area causing each new slash to frost over and stay open. He ducked as Anna swung her weapon at the exposed and gaping hole of sinewy flesh in a massive blow. Roaring and staggering sideways, the animal cried out in pain and rage. Slamming his staff into the ground, Gale activated his semblance. The earth seemed to open up and swallow the legs on the left side of hog. Now with the hog anchored on its left side, Anna rolled to the hog's right side and activated the crossbow mode. Shooting it in the side with a grapple hook type bolt, she shot it into the ribcage and pulled it onto its side. Rolling off, Oliver scrambled to safety. Now with the vulnerable underbelly exposed, it was ripped apart with a combination on bracer edge slashes, explosive arrow, and large hammer strikes. The animal only lived for a few more seconds after falling.

"Well that was not all that much fun." Gale breathed hard while leaning in his staff. "But it could have gone worse though" Raalek smiled and stood up from lying on the ground in exhaustion. Walking slowly, the four began the long trip to cliff, hoping that they didn't meet any more resistance on the way.

"Anna Harmen, Oliver Collier, Raalek Gan-jang, and Gale Lang-wan, you four chose the stone bow pieces. From this day forward, your team will be known as team ROAG. Raalek you have been assigned as team leader." As they were walking off the stage, Gale spoke to Raalek "Is it me or does our name kind of sound like rogue, oh and by the way, don't even try and boss me around." Raalek gave a small smile. I'm sure that everything will go great. The group went to their new room and prepared for their first official day of Beacon.

*Note* this is the last setup chapter before I get into the main story arc. This chapter is twice as long as the others and I will try to keep it about at this length. Leave a comment about what you think.


	4. Momentous Revelations

Momentous Revelations

Soaring through the air, the small black bird with a red beak and reddish-gold head tilted its body, two visible jet streams forming at the tips of its wings as it turned towards the small opening of a window that was thirty stories above the ground. It landed and began singing its small, light tune. As it sang its song, the black eyes that were inlaid in the fiery sheath rolled around and surveyed the inside. Small shifts of movements caught its eyes. Settling in the rustling sheets, the bird began to move around as long bluish hair began to emerge from the white sheets, with an insignia of two crossed axes inside a wreath, never stopping in its song. As the loudness increased, the energy inside the bird also increased, now furiously hopping side to side, the beautiful medley now filled the room and disturbed the room's grouchier occupants. Now with a feverish pitch, the energy of the song flowed and filled every unoccupied nanometer of the room. With a sudden explosion, the space that the small bird was in was suddenly empty, now only filled with a few feathers that floated after being thrown upward. The explosion was caused by a large bullet impacting on the light frame of the bird. That bullet was fired from a bracer wielded by a boy with jet black tufts and half closed eyes.

"What's the name of that bird? I would like to go on a hunt after that species after I am done with being a hunter." Raalek asked as he began to while attempting to shake himself out of his stupor. Right above him came an equally tired voice, "I don't think that anyone can tell what a bird is just from its voice, they have to be a no life or something." Emerging from the bathroom with toothbrush in hand, he added in his opinion, "Actually, I'm pretty sure people can do that." Sighing, Anna decided to put an end to the discussion, "Why not just name it folly or hubris and be done with it." Jutting his chin out, Raalek entered the defiant last word "Well some of us just have a passion for knowledge and learning." Oliver chuckled, "You have a passion for eating and sleeping and that's about it." Gale offhandedly seconded it.

Raalek strode towards the center of the room and cleared his throat for attention. "As your appointed team leader, I want to assign team duties. Gale-Scrub the toilets, Oliver – the sink, Anna- make the beds. I will supervise."

Gale shook his head and spoke as he turned away, "I already have to listen to you in combat, and that's about it. Also I don't clean toilets, ever. Read my lips… ever." He kept turning and found that Anna and Oliver had already left. "Can you at least make my bed for me?" Raalek pleaded, hoping that his friend would be soft in his early morning drowsiness. This however turned out not to be as his friend dashed his dreams while walking to the closet. "I would if I had access to a landmine to place in it then maybe, but otherwise, no."

He stopped and threw open the closet door, and thought aloud, I would walk in deeper and check more of what to wear, but I don't trust you not to make a gay joke." Making a selection, he took off his night shirt. On his back were tattoos of large, black, stylized wings. Getting up to join him, Raalek took off his tight-fitting pajama top and revealed a matching set of wings that originated at the spine and traveled up towards the shoulder and peeked over three inches away from the end of the collar bone. The wings rippled along with the movements of his muscles. Now fluttering in unison, the sets of wings on the boys, selected their clothes for the day.

"What's with the two birds?" Now with freshly cleaned teeth, Anna reentered the room and asked with a quizzical glance. Gale glanced at Raalek and then back at Anna. "Long story, it's customary for warriors in our town." Oliver joined Anna at her side, "Well if you can't fly with it, it's not very useful then." Raalek slipped into his combat armor and answered. "At least it looks cool."

Donning a red chest plate, Raalek looked over his friend's armor. "My armor is cooler than Gale's too" Gale rolled his eyes. "You talk a lot of smack, but even your sister agreed that mine was more dark and mysterious." Standing side by side, it was easy to compare the two.

Raalek's armor was a dark red chest plate at the bottom layer, with two large, wide and silvery sheets of metal armor that was separated by an inch from the chest plate armor. The pieces met at the top of the torso right beneath the neck. Exponentially separating in a curve from the spine outward in a symmetrical manner, they eventually terminated just above the pelvis bone, an inch from the back and almost touching the sides as the metal curved forward at the end. On the back of the metal were magnetic holders for ammo and nestled in the area where the metal armor separated was a small sharpening kit as well as flint and tinder. In the middle of the two sections was a strap that connected the front piece of armor. On the front was a simple, angled breastplate that was connected to the back piece at the bottom. It hugged the body tightly and cut off at the beginning of the limbs, deliberately allowing full range of motion. The metal armor itself was a dark red, and with a matte black phoenix with open wing on the front. On top of the back of the silvery armor piece were decals of matte black feathers with an orange image of fire at the bottom. Under the armor was a black shirt made up by individual links of a light metal that was a dark black color that wasn't shiny, but on the opposite seemed to consume all light and was inescapable. It showed through the exposed parts of the outer most armor. His bottom was thicker than his natural legs due to the armor and padding that covered every square inch of Raalek's legs.

As Raalek strolled over to the ammo rack by his bedside, his shirt swayed slightly with a jingle, while the metal part remained motionless. Oliver interjected, "What's with the flock of pigeons theme with you and Gale?"

Gale's armor was similar in the theme. His armor was sharply angled in the front and came to a long point the entire length of his torso. The entire Armor was green except for two black stripes on each side of the back that started at the shoulders and traveled down at an angle before meeting each other near the middle of the back right over the spine. On the back was a modified holder for the arrows. In a staggered pattern, there were two levels; on the bottom were the longer arrows and above them were the shorter, specialized arrows. All the arrows were held in place by magnetic clips that could be deactivated by the touch of the marksman gloves that Gale wore. The gloves carried a small electrical charge that the magnetic clip could sense through the metal arrow.

Covering his arms were long, black sleeves with a light silver hexagonal pattern that was revealed more when the sunlight hit them. On his left forearm was a small metallic slab the protected his arm from the snap of the bowstring. Covering his legs were a pair of tight leggings that showed the protruding muscles on the back of his legs.

As Gale raised his arms to stretch, he cast his gaze to his friend Raalek. "You ready for today?" Raalek gave a half smile and answered assuredly. "You two chill out, we aren't even in combat much today. Just the morning and then classes for the rest of the day." Anna broke in and interrupted. She was dressed in a simple light blue, tight fitting shirt that covered her entire upper body stopping just at the wrists. On her mid-section was a metal armor piece that wrapped around and traveled up her back and wrapped around her shoulders. Covering her legs was a simple blue combat skirt. She slung her weapon on her back and turned towards Oliver.

"You really are a minimalist aren't you?" It was true; everything about Oliver's life at beacon was the absolute bare minimum, barring his studies and combat training. His bed was covered in a single, marine green sheet, with a similarly covered pillow. On his bedside table was a single alarm clock, along with his scroll and combat gloves.

He was wearing a simple olive green t-shirt and black shorts. On his feet were tightly laced combat boots and he wore a green cap with a black sigil on the bill that covered his eyes.

Oliver shrugged, "It's too much effort for such elaborate combat uniforms like the ones that you guys wear." Raalek gave him an incredulous glance, "We wear elaborate combat uniforms so we don't die!" "I get what you mean, I just can't be bothered." Anna sighed, "You know what one of the best feelings in the world is" Oliver replied, "I'm sure you're about to tell me, regardless of my answer." Anna gave a tight lipped smile, "You're damn right. Anyway, the answer is not freaking getting your insides clawed out!"

Oliver rebutted with a simple, "Don't let the touch you then."

"Oooh yeaaah, simple as that huh? Guys, Oliver the brilliant tactician here has given us the solution that we have needed for generations now. Just don't let them kill you. Good thinking, idiot."

Gale stepped into the middle of Anna's rant, "I hate to interject, but we are going to be late for class." Anna glanced at Gale and then back at the armorless Oliver, "Fine, but Raalek and I and you are going to have an intervention about this." With a turn she stomped out of the room. The sound of her angry footsteps receded and then grew again as she stomped past the doorway. "Wrong way."

The early morning combat class was really more of a strength and fitness class. They would report to it every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. When the class arrived, they were put into orderly lines and told to remember where they were, as that is where they were to stand from that day on at the beginning.

The next 45 minutes were filled with various stretches, cardio exercises, and light muscle building. For the end of class, they lined up back to their original spot. The teacher, a hard man with a handlebar mustache barked about their lack of athletic ability and promised that tomorrow he would break them.

As they were leaving and heading to their next class, Raalek huffed and rolled his eyes, "regular ray of sunshine, isn't he?" Gale turned back and answer, "You're just salty because Anna and Ruby saw you breathing hard"

Raalek stopped and crossed his arms, "I tripped, my ankle hurt." With raised eyebrows, the taller boy replied, "Sure, whatever."

Suddenly, a loud disruptive voice crowed, "Our next class is called On Grimm? What's there to know, you kill 'em and move on to the next one" The owner of the voice was one Cardin Winchester. He continued, "At least I know now which one of my classes I can take a nap in." Walking slightly in front of him and beside Oliver, Anna huffed in annoyance at his ignorance. Cardin took notice and spoke with an ugly sneer, "You got some beef lady?" Defiantly, Anna turned to address him, "No, I'm just wondering how you got passed the academic portion of the entrance requirements." Cardin narrowed his eyes and when he spoke; his voice was barely above a whisper "I did what it takes". He shouldered past, followed by the three other members of his team.

Coming up to the group from the exercise room Yang cheerily remarked, "Well isn't he just a barrel of laughs and enjoyment." Her sister backed her up, "Plus, On Grimm should be a lot of fun, anything to help me kill them faster."

"You might not like it when you find out who teaches the class" Oliver interjected with a frown. Ruby whirled around, wearing a quizzical face, "Why, is he like super mean or something. Oh, does he not like cookies?" Oliver grinned, "I'm not for sure but I heard that he is a grey haired pit of cynicism, devoid of cheeriness."

"But he likes cookies right?"

"Ruby, everyone likes cookies."

Weiss stepped in with a thin-lipped smile "Maybe having someone serious will do wonders for you and Yang, you are our leader after all." Yang huffed, "I am mature enough, but the episodes of Achieve Men are just sooo funny." Weiss rolled her eyes, "We're doomed"

With a calamitous roar, the mess of students spilled into the amphitheatre like room through the dark, unadorned but heavy and massive doors that stood guard over the entrance. As they took their seats, a silent wraith watched, brooding. He was wearing a dark black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up showing off the subtle bands of muscle under his forearms. His face sported a dark patch of stubble on his chin and back along his jaw line. His jaw line was hard and came to a sharp point at his chin. He had light gray eyebrows that were furrowed together. Chocolate brown eyebrows and an emotionless, flat face followed the commotion in the room with a cold air.

Once the level had settles down to an acceptable level, the silent figure cleared his throat to get the attention of the mass of teenagers. Most of the class settled down, but a few stragglers kept on their conversations, unbeknownst that they drawing the ire of a figure you did not want to have against you.

Narrowing his eyes, the figure proceeded to call out the names of the stragglers and shock the class with his next words, "Everyone that I have named, leave. You may come back for coursework and the extra work that I will assign." He spoke the words with no change in eyebrows or inflection in his voice. The selected students started in shock. Slowly as he stared them down, the student's faces fell as they resigned themselves to an embarrassing and miserable first day.

After a pregnant pause, he turned to the rest of the class, "The rest of you, who can tell me a thing or two about Grimm." He strode over to the black board and wrote down one through five. Once this was done he turned back to his audience and surveyed the sea of hands and the mob of eager faces.

He called a few names and the board began slowly filling up with various facts about Grimm. Once he decided that the board was sufficiently filled, he turned and addressed the class, "Now that you have proved that you have at least the knowledge of a ten year old on Grimm. I will pose to you a more interesting question. Do Grimm have a soul or any sort of Aura?"

A slight noise went through the room as most of the students muttered under their breaths at the confusing question. The first to speak up at the seemingly ridiculous question was Cardin, the boy that Yang traded words with earlier, "Thats freaking retarded, even a ten year old knows that Grimm are beings without souls and therefore cannot have an Aura."

Once he sat back down with a smug grin, the person at the head of the class rolled his eyes and spoke in tone as if he was talking to a child, "Now that you have proved that not only you are incapable of thinking, but also blaringly ignorant, please don't open your mouth in my class today, you lower the collective IQ of the room. Anyone else care to add another answer, one hopefully more intelligent." He looked around the room, but everyone was sufficiently discouraged from speaking up.

"It seems that some of you know when to keep your mouth shuts. Instead of telling me if they have a Soul, can you tell me why our esteemed and brilliant student is so wrong?" He looked around the still silent room. The noticeable silence made the tension and confusion palpable. After a couple seconds, the person with everyone's attention sighed and rolled his eyes, "Since no one is brave enough to speak their mind, I will explain it to you. Take out your notebooks and record this, the next half hour will be what we build the rest of the year off of."

A general rustle rose up as the teenagers grabbed their books and plopped them open. A light throat clearing at the front of the room brought the attention back again the solitary figure.

"I guess that I should tell all of you my name, I am Professor Samuel Trid. I was a hunter for twenty years before I started to think more about the nature of Grimm. So after a time, I became somewhat the leading expert on what exactly a Grimm is exactly and when I retired, I came here to give you the knowledge to know your enemy. But enough about me, we are here to learn about Grimm and that is what we will focus on completely from now on. As our illustrious student offered, many people believe that Grimm have no souls or Aura. This is of course understandable, but if you think about it, there are some logical flaws in that hypothesis."

Samuel looked around the room and smiled to himself, it was his favorite moment every year, a time when he would change the worlds of his students. He gathered himself before continuing, "To give you a better understanding of what I will be trying to explain, I present to you this situation. Me and you are from two different planets, say I'm from the moon or something like that. We meet for the first time. While it is my culture that we see every part of our internal organs to better understand what we are. Regardless of whether this actually helps or not, we do it. Say that you on don't do this and as such there are no records of you having an organ such as say an appendix or some other organ that you have to see to know it was there. Now I know what is inside of me, but we have never met before and there is no record of you having the same gut stuff as me. Wouldn't you agree that it would be a safe assumption that you don't have them? You do have all the same parts, but all the evidence points that you don't. Knowing that something is impossible and simply coming to a conclusion based off of evidence is not the same. Even a ten year old would tell you that Grimm have never been documented with a soul, but as we just talked about, we must change the way that we approach the way that we evaluate Grimm. I am not saying that Grimm do posses the same abilities that we have, but I am saying that it is a dangerous folly to simply brush off that possibility. This type of thinking is something that you should carry with you throughout your hopefully great career as a hunter, never assume something is impossible or could never happen. Play the odds and trust all that you have learned, but never allow yourself to be blindsided by something you previously thought impossible. Believe me, it sucks."

He trailed off, as if in deep thought. The whole class was silenced as they were put into brooding thought. A small, tentative hand was raised in a trembling manner. Glancing up, Samuel spoke in a disturbingly upbeat fashion. "Great, a question, what is your query my dear lady?"

Ruby took a courage breath before speaking in a tinny voice, "Are you saying that Grimm have souls?" Samuel gave a light chuckle, "My students never fail to ask me that question. The point of my little speech was to give you an entrance into the way of thinking that we will have in this class. I am merely suggesting that the possibility that Grimm and souls are not mutually exclusive. One of the ultimate points of this class is to teach you to form your own conclusions."

He clasped his hands and glanced at the clock, "Well it seems that we have ran out of time for today. Your homework is to pick a type of Grimm and to sketch its weaknesses and strong points. You are dismissed." He sauntered to his desk, seemingly unaware of the ruckus that he caused in the minds of his students.

The students left the room, and while there was noise and the general hum of noise, it seemed that it was muted as they did not know how to process the information that they had just received into their normal life.

Watching from his room, Samuel smiled and prepared for the rest of the year, which he felt would be unlike the others.


End file.
